Stealing Sheep – The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds 07/12/12

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Like a lot of female guitar bands, Stealing Sheep have been the victims of some rather imprudent pigeonholing as of late. On first inspection you could be forgiven for thinking that the Liverpudlian trio were spawned from the likes of War Paint et el but these inaccurate collations feel little more than careless comparisons based simply on the all-female form of the band.

Sexist classifying aside, if you haven’t yet been formerly acquainted with the celestial sounds of Stealing Sheep, then you can expect to hear an amalgamation of genres: from whimsical folk-pop to 60’s psychedelia; while not entirely ground-breaking, there are enough idiosyncrasies thrown in to help prevent them from straying into the all-too familiar realm of insipid flimsy-folk music. Instead their seeming reluctance to place themselves in one myopic category provides something that is dynamic and intriguing.

The Brudenell plays host to Stealing Sheep’s third appearance at the venue tonight; with only a recent album and an EP forming their young discography, the haunt is perhaps not as brimming as you would expect considering the band have undergone a myriad of hype in recent months. There’s also an obvious distinction between the people who are well versed in Stealing Sheep’s fresh archive and the clientele who have attended out of curiosity, wanting to catch sight of a band who suggest a habit of kidnapping livestock.

Despite the lack of an obviously ardent fan base they are met with a gratifying welcome from a crowd who all seem averse to standing anywhere near the front at live shows; meaning that we’re left with the formation of an annoyingly occupiable gap between band and crowd. This is only short lived as Stealing Sheep, albeit coyly, begin to entice people into navigating a little further forward where we are able to wholly appreciate the otherworldliness of their instrumental lustre and hypnotic vocal harmonies.

Adorned in the kind of attire you would expect from a trio who extol any psychedelic tendencies, and a stage that sports a decorative style in a similar vein, the band commence the set by playing a compendium of songs from both the Noah and the Paper Moon EP and their debut album Into the Diamond Sun. There’s an initial sense of nervous timidity as Becky, Lucy and Emily fail to partake in any kind of crowd interaction and instead appear intent on using their time wisely by merging each song together in a continuous fashion. It is soon brought to our attention, though, that the girls are feeling the effects of perpetual touring as keyboardist Becky announces that the last two months of city-hopping has made them “go a bit insane”.

The most noticeable qualities of Stealing Sheep tonight are in the contrasts between the emphatic, tribal percussion played by Lucy and the delicate, ethereal tones of their vocal aptitudes. Familiar singles ‘Rearrange’ and ‘Genevieve’ are lacking the shimmering intensity that is so lucid on the record; while ‘Shut Eye’ is an inevitable crowd-pleaser and lesser-known gems like ‘Noah’s Day’s’ and ‘Circles’ sound particularly prevalent.

The band’s interpretation of an encore is humorous but charmingly modest to say the least: they soon return to the stage as quickly as they left it, but we’re treated to one last number called ‘Shark Song’, a song that is, you guessed it, about sharks. The song is a calmer addition to the set-list where Emily introduces her acoustic guitar; any signs of brooding drum beats are diminished and the girls sing harmoniously in unison. We see a glimpse of a more placid version of Stealing Sheep as they confirm their genre-defying dispositions and expose a potential for even more intriguing ventures to follow.